The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland will be holding a conference titled "Consumer Protection in Financial Product Markets" on Friday, September 11, 2009.

From the abstract: "The financial crisis has ignited a call for changes in how consumers are protected in markets for financial products. Recently proposed legislation underscores both public sentiment and the government’s commitment to meaningful reform of the existing consumer protection regulatory regime. As an optimal regulatory environment requires a balance between providing consumer protection and consumer choice, careful consideration must be given to the proposed reforms." READ MORE »

PaymentOne has announced it has closed a $7 million round of equity and debt financing led by AER Investments LLC. According to the company, "the new funding will be used to expand and accelerate the organic growth and mobile related product development as well as set the foundation for executing on strategic acquisition targets to complement the company's suite of payment gateway services." READ MORE »

NetSpend and Check City, a check cashing and payday loan provider in the Mountain West and Mid-Atlantic regions, have announced a distributor agreement in which NetSpend will be the chain’s exclusive prepaid debit card provider. According to the two companies, "with 70 stores in Nevada, Utah, Virginia, Maryland and Colorado, Check City will increase NetSpend’s check cashing distribution in these regions and is expected to drive significant card sales and direct deposit enrollments." READ MORE »

In an article titled "3 Indicted in Theft of 130 Million Card Numbers", Brad Stone reports for the New York Times on yesterday's indictment by the US Department of Justice of Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami and two unnamed Russian conspirators. The three were charged with stealing more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers from several different merchants and processors. A copy of the indictment containing the charges is available online.

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